The present invention claims its foreign priority filing, pursuant to the provision of 35 U.S.C. section 119 et seq, based upon the application filed by the same inventors in China, having application number 200820055121.6 filed on Jan. 25, 2008.
The present invention relates generally to a positioning device; specifically a device with magnetic attaching power that can be used to position metal work pieces for ease of being worked/operated upon.
Magnetic aligning or positioning tools are widely used for the positioning or aligning of metal work pieces. These tools are mostly made of a single magnetic piece, or two (2) magnetic pieces put together in a certain configuration. Such tools provide a fixed-angle (such as 90-degree fix angle) or adjustable-angle device made from two magnetic pieces hinged together by an axle-connection.
A prior art example of Eclipse Tools' heavy duty variable clamp is provided in
The disadvantages of such prior art device include: in the case where work pieces are big or heavy, locking bolts 61 and nuts 62 tend to loose the tightness as between the two arm pieces 112 and 122, due to continuous weight applied onto the positioning device, resulting in the change of the selected angle. Moreover, when such prior art device is used on work pieces with varied and changing angles, it is both time-consuming and inefficient to set up the positioning/alignment for the work piece angles that are frequently used in the industry. Such disadvantages further lead to random errors when the selection and setting of the frequent angles cannot be obtained quickly.
Present invention provides a technical solution for a magnetic positioning device, whereby the angle-setting can be done quickly and efficiently, for the frequently used angles in the industry.
The implementation of present magnetic position device primarily consists of two magnetic pieces connected by a hinge device which contains a “toothed groove” in addition to the hinge itself, so that it enables easy adjustment of angles, particularly for frequently used angles.
The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated in and constitute a part of this specification, illustrate the preferred embodiments of the invention and together with the description, serve to explain the principles of the invention.
A brief description of the drawings is as follows:
The magnetic positioning/aligning device disclosed herein and as illustrated in
Said axle connector 4 is further made up of 2 connecting disks 214 formed at said first end of magnetic arm 21 and one connecting disk 224 formed at said first end of magnetic arm 22, so that disk 224 is sandwiched in-between disks 214, wherein a locking bolt 41 and a corresponding locking nut 42 are inserted through the concentric hole of said connection disks and hingeably attached to the two outside surfaces of the said connecting disks 214/224.
An activation through-hole 5 is formed on one of the connection disks 214. Another hole, shaped like a cul-de-sac, is formed on the other connection disk 214, so that the cul-de-sac hole contains a spring 52 (detailed later). A toothed-groove 223 is formed on the connection disk 224. Through-hole 5 (and the cul-de-sac hole on the other connection disk) and groove 223 are formed in such a way that a pin 51 (as shown on
A handle 213 is optionally formed on the second end (opposing the connection disk end, which is referred to as first end) of magnetic arm 21, for ease of holding on to the positioning device of present invention.
As shown in
On the outside (external) surfaces of connection disks 214, markings for the ranges of angle selection can be made for ease of reference.
Referencing
To change the magnetic positioning device to a different angle, pin 51 is then pushed inwards toward the spring 52, i.e. to the end of the cul-de-sac hole, so that the enlarged head 511 is disengaged from the selected indents 2231, and pin 51 can then move inside the toothed-groove 223 within the arc-angle, thus turning the angle of magnetic arm 21 relative to magnetic arm 22, until a different selected angle is chosen, when the pushing force is then released, allowing the enlarged head 511 to engage to the newly selected indent 2231 again.
Locking bolt 41 and locking nuts 42 can then be easily tightened, ensuring that the selected angle will not be changed, despite heavy load or the gravity of big work pieces.
As shown in
By such use of optional magnetizable plates 211, a controllable exposed magnetic surface is made for easy attachment to and disengagement from magnetic work pieces. A switch 222 is built to the second end of magnetic arm 22, opposing the end of the axle connector 4. By turning the switch 222, the magnetic steel piece 231 of the magnetic piece 23 changes its directional power of the magnetic field, further resulting in the magnetic strength of the plates 211, thus allowing the users to easily control how the positioning device will be used for attaching to or disengaging from magnetic work pieces.
On the other magnetic arm 22, corresponding magnetizable plates 211 along with the sheath 25 (and the 23, 231 and 232 components) can be similarly built in.
A further embodiment of present invention is shown in
As shown in
Although not shown in the figures, the same disclosure can be applied to an axle connector 4 wherein a second toothed-groove 223 is made to the connection disk 224, so that there can be two ranges of angle selection and the user can push two (2) sets of pins to go into any selected angle, as long as the enlarged head 551 is engaged to the selected indents 2231 on either of the toothed-groove, the re-adjustment of angle to frequently used angles can be done easily and efficiently.
The magnetic positioning device of present invention provides a fast and easy way to position magnetic work piece to angles that are frequently used in the industry. The angles, when selected, are then stably kept in place, as a result of the enlarged head 511 engaging to the indents 2231, producing a easy and low-cost result of angle clamp that is convenient and efficient to the users.
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
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2008 2 0055121 U | Jan 2008 | CN | national |
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Number | Date | Country | |
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20090189324 A1 | Jul 2009 | US |